The 1984–85 Boston Celtics season was the 39th season of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics entered the season as the defending NBA Champions, coming off an

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

victory over the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in seven games, and increasing their NBA Finals victories over the Lakers to 8. On March 3, 1985, Kevin McHale surpassed Larry Bird's Celtics single game scoring record when he netted 56 points against the Detroit Pistons. Less than two weeks later, on March 12, Bird answered, scoring a career-high 60 points against the Atlanta Hawks. In the playoffs, the Celtics defeated the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the First Round in four games, the Detroit Pistons in the Semi-finals in six games, and the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

in the Conference Finals in five games to advance to the

. In the Finals, they faced off against the

, the team who they beat in last season's NBA Finals in seven games, and have beaten a total of 8 consecutive times in their NBA Finals matchups. However, the Celtics were defeated in six games by the Lakers, marking the first time the Celtics were defeated by the Lakers in the NBA Finals. This also marked the first time the Celtics lost the NBA Finals at home.

Trivia

A majority of this team moved onto coaching later in their careers. Kevin McHale, Rick Carlisle, Larry Bird, Danny Ainge,

Dennis Johnson Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a coa ...

, and Sam Vincent have all coached in the NBA.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , October 26, 1984 , @ Detroit
W 130–123
, , , , Pontiac Silverdome , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , October 31, 1984 , New Jersey
W 116–105
, , , , Boston Garden , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , November 2, 1984 , Detroit
W 127–116
, , , , Boston Garden , 3–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , November 7, 1984 ,

L.A. Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

W 135–108
, , , , Boston Garden , 4–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , November 9, 1984 , Philadelphia
W 130–119
, , , , Boston Garden , 5–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 6 , November 10, 1984 , @ Washington
L 95–112
, , , ,

Capital Centre Capitol Center or Capitol Centre or Capital Center or Capital Centre may refer to: Singapore *Capitol Centre, Singapore United Arab Emirates *Capital Centre (Abu Dhabi) United Kingdom *Capitol Centre, Cardiff, a shopping mall United States * Ca ...

, 5–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 7 , November 12, 1984 , @ Indiana
W 132–115
, , , , Market Square Arena , 6–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 8 , November 14, 1984 ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

W 115–99
, , , , Boston Garden , 7–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 9 , November 15, 1984 , @ Chicago
W 125–105
, , , , Chicago Stadium , 8–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 10 , November 21, 1984 , Golden State
W 135–91
, , , , Boston Garden , 9–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 11 , November 23, 1984 , Washington
W 118–110
, , , , Boston Garden , 10–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 12 , November 24, 1984 , @

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

W 135–124
, , , , Kemper Arena , 11–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 13 , November 27, 1984 , @ Dallas
W 114–99
, , , , Reunion Arena , 12–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 14 , November 28, 1984 , @ Houston
W 110–100
, , , , The Summit , 13–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 15 , December 1, 1984 , @ Cleveland
W 110–104
, , , , Richfield Coliseum , 14–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 16 , December 2, 1984 , Cleveland
W 122–99
, , , , Boston Garden , 15–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 17 , December 4, 1984 , @ Detroit
L 99–104
, , , , Pontiac Silverdome , 15–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 18 , December 5, 1984 , Denver
W 123–107
, , , , Boston Garden , 16–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 19 , December 8, 1984 , @ New Jersey
W 107–98
, , , , Brendan Byrne Arena , 17–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 20 , December 9, 1984 , Atlanta
W 128–127
, , , , Boston Garden , 18–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 21 , December 11, 1984 , New Jersey

W 116–105
, , , ,

Hartford Civic Center Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, 19–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 22 , December 12, 1984 , @ Philadelphia
L 107–110
, , , , The Spectrum , 19–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 23 , December 14, 1984 , Utah
W 117–106
, , , , Boston Garden , 20–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 24 , December 15, 1984 , @ Atlanta
W 101–94
, , , , The Omni , 21–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 25 , December 18, 1984 , @

W 126–108
, , , ,

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, 22–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 26 , December 19, 1984 , Milwaukee
L 92–107
, , , , Boston Garden , 22–4 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 27 , December 21, 1984 , Indiana
W 117–107
, , , , Boston Garden , 23–4 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 28 , December 22, 1984 , @ Chicago
L 85–110
, , , , Chicago Stadium , 23–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 29 , December 26, 1984 , @ Phoenix
W 119–114
, , , , Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum , 24–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 30 , December 27, 1984 , @

W 118–103
, , , , Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena , 25–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 31 , December 29, 1984 , @ San Antonio
W 120–112
, , , , HemisFair Arena , 26–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 32 , December 30, 1984 , @ Milwaukee
L 98–114
, , , , MECCA Arena , 26–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 33 , January 2, 1985 , @ New Jersey
W 110–95
, , , , Brendan Byrne Arena , 27–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 34 , January 4, 1985 ,

W 105–94
, , , , Boston Garden , 28–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 35 , January 7, 1985 , @

W 108–97
, , , ,

, 29–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 36 , January 9, 1985 , Chicago
W 111–108
, , , , Boston Garden , 30–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 37 , January 11, 1985 , Washington
W 103–101
, , , , Boston Garden , 31–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 38 , January 12, 1985 , @ Atlanta
W 119–111
, , , , The Omni , 32–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 39 , January 16, 1985
8:00p.m. EST , L.A. Lakers
W 104–102
, Johnson (20) , Parish (13) , Ainge, Bird, Johnson (7) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 33–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 40 , January 18, 1985 , @ Indiana
L 86–91
, , , , Market Square Arena , 33–7 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 41 , January 20, 1985 , Philadelphia
W 113–97
, , , , Boston Garden , 34–7 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 42 , January 23, 1985 , Seattle
L 97–107
, , , , Boston Garden , 34–8 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 43 , January 25, 1985 , Indiana
W 125–94
, , , , Boston Garden , 35–8 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 44 , January 27, 1985 ,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

W 128–127
, , , , Boston Garden , 36–8 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 45 , January 29, 1985 , Detroit

W 131–130
, , , ,

, 37–8 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 46 , January 30, 1985 , @ Philadelphia
L 104–122
, , , , The Spectrum , 37–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 47 , February 1, 1985 ,

W 142–123
, , , , Boston Garden , 38–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 48 , February 2, 1985 , @ Washington
W 97–91
, , , ,

, 39–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 49 , February 5, 1985 , @ Chicago
W 110–106
, , , , Chicago Stadium , 40–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 50 , February 6, 1985 , Cleveland
W 113–108
, , , , Boston Garden , 41–9 , - align="center" , colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff", All-Star Break , - style="background:#cfc;" , - bgcolor="#bbffbb" , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 51 , February 12, 1985 , @

L 103–111
, , , , Memorial Coliseum , 41–10 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 52 , February 14, 1985 , @ Seattle
W 110–94
, , , ,

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

, 42–10 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 53 , February 15, 1985 , @ Golden State
W 107–100
, , , ,

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena Oakland Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States. From its opening in 1966 until 1996, it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed ...

, 43–10 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 54 , February 17, 1985
3:30p.m. EST , @ L.A. Lakers
L 111–117
, Bird (33) , Bird (15) , Ainge, Johnson (10) , The Forum
17,505 , 43–11 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 55 , February 18, 1985 , @ Utah
W 110–94
, , , ,

Salt Palace Acord Arena The Salt Palace was an indoor arena located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Built on land that was once the "Little Tokyo" area of the city, construction was pushed by Salt Lake's bid committee for the 1972 Winter Olympics, which included Gen. Maxwell ...

, 44–11 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 56 , February 20, 1985 , @ Denver
L 129–132
, , , , McNichols Sports Arena , 44–12 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 57 , February 22, 1985 , Chicago

W 115–105
, , , ,

, 45–12 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 58 , February 24, 1985 , @ Indiana
W 113–100
, , , , Market Square Arena , 46–12 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 59 , February 27, 1985 , San Antonio
W 111–102
, , , , Boston Garden , 47–12 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 60 , March 1, 1985 , Atlanta
L 105–114
, , , , Boston Garden , 47–13 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 61 , March 3, 1985 , Detroit
W 138–129
, , , , Boston Garden , 48–13 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 62 , March 5, 1985 , @

W 110–102
, , , ,

, 49–13 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 63 , March 6, 1985 , Chicago
L 104–107
, , , , Boston Garden , 49–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 64 , March 8, 1985 , Dallas
W 133–122
, , , , Boston Garden , 50–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 65 , March 12, 1985 , @ Atlanta

W 126–115
, , , , Lakefront Arena , 51–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 66 , March 13, 1985 , Phoenix
W 123–106
, , , , Boston Garden , 52–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 67 , March 15, 1985 , @ Cleveland
W 119–96
, , , , Richfield Coliseum , 53–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 68 , March 17, 1985 , Houston
W 134–120
, , , , Boston Garden , 54–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 69 , March 20, 1985 , Milwaukee
W 107–105
, , , , Boston Garden , 53–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 70 , March 22, 1985 , Cleveland
W 129–117
, , , , Boston Garden , 56–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 71 , March 23, 1985 , @ Washington
W 104–98
, , , ,

, 57–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 72 , March 27, 1985 , @ New Jersey
W 105–95
, , , , Brendan Byrne Arena , 58–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 73 , March 29, 1985 , Philadelphia
W 112–108
, , , , Boston Garden , 59–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 74 , March 31, 1985 , @ Detroit
L 105–113
, , , , Joe Louis Arena , 59–15 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 75 , April 2, 1985 , @ Milwaukee
L 103–109
, , , , MECCA Arena , 59–16 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 76 , April 3, 1985 , Indiana
W 119–103
, , , , Boston Garden , 60–16 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 77 , April 5, 1985 , Washington
W 115–104
, , , , Boston Garden , 61–16 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 78 , April 7, 1985 ,

W 114–102
, , , , Boston Garden , 62–16 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 79 , April 9, 1985 , @ Philadelphia
L 104–113
, , , , The Spectrum , 62–17 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 80 , April 11, 1985 , @ Cleveland
W 121–115
, , , , Richfield Coliseum , 63–17 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 81 , April 12, 1985 , Milwaukee
L 113–115 (OT)
, , , , Boston Garden , 63–18 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 82 , April 14, 1985 , New Jersey
L 118–129
, , , , Boston Garden , 63–19

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 18 , Cleveland
W 126–123
, Larry Bird (40) , Kevin McHale (12) ,

(11) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 20 , Cleveland
W 108–106
, Larry Bird (30) , Bird, Parish (11) , Larry Bird (7) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , April 23 , @ Cleveland
L 98–105
, Scott Wedman (30) , Kevin McHale (11) ,

(10) , Richfield Coliseum
20,900 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , April 25 , @ Cleveland
W 117–115
, Larry Bird (34) , Larry Bird (14) , Larry Bird (7) , Richfield Coliseum
20,900 , 3–1 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 28 , Detroit
W 133–99
,

Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player who played 21 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), tied for second most in league history. He played an NBA-record 1,61 ...

(27) ,

(16) , Ainge, Williams (7) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 30 , Detroit
W 121–114
, Larry Bird (42) ,

McHale McHale is an Irish firm manufacturing a range of farm machinery. McHale is located in the West of Ireland in the town of Ballinrobe Ballinrobe () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is located on the River Robe, which empties into Loug ...

, Bird (10) ,

(7) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 2 , @ Detroit
L 117–125
,

(27) , Larry Bird (13) , Larry Bird (8) , Joe Louis Arena
14,209 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 5 , @ Detroit
L 99–102
, Kevin McHale (24) , Kevin McHale (10) , Larry Bird (7) , Joe Louis Arena
14,350 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 8 , Detroit
W 130–123
, Larry Bird (43) , Larry Bird (13) , Johnson, Ainge (6) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , May 10 , @ Detroit
W 123–113
,

(22) ,

(13) , Danny Ainge (9) , Joe Louis Arena
21,193 , 4–2 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , May 12 , Philadelphia
W 108–93
, Kevin McHale (28) ,

(13) ,

(8) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , May 14 , Philadelphia
W 106–98
, Larry Bird (24) ,

(16) , Bird, Johnson (7) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , May 18 , @ Philadelphia
W 105–94
, Larry Bird (26) ,

(14) , Danny Ainge (7) , Spectrum
17,921 , 3–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 19 , @ Philadelphia
L 104–115
, Kevin McHale (25) , Kevin McHale (17) , Danny Ainge (8) , Spectrum
17,921 , 3–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 22 , Philadelphia
W 102–100
,

(23) , Kevin McHale (14) ,

(8) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 4–1 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , May 27, 1985
3:00p.m. EDT , L.A. Lakers
W 148–114
,

, Wedman (26) ,

(9) , Johnson (10) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , May 30, 1985
9:00p.m. EDT , L.A. Lakers
L 102–109
, Bird (30) , Bird (12) , Johnson (8) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , June 2, 1985
3:30p.m. EDT , @ L.A. Lakers
L 111–136
,

(31) ,

(10) , Ainge (10) , The Forum
17,505 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , June 5, 1985
9:00p.m. EDT , @ L.A. Lakers
W 107–105
,

(28) ,

(12) , Johnson (12) , The Forum
17,505 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , June 7, 1985
9:00p.m. EDT , @ L.A. Lakers
L 111–120
, Parish (26) ,

(10) , Johnson (17) , The Forum
17,505 , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 6 , June 9, 1985
1:00p.m. EDT , L.A. Lakers
L 100–111
,

(32) ,

(16) , Ainge (11) , Boston Garden
14,890 , 2–4 , -

Player statistics

Regular season

* – Recorded statistics when playing for Boston , , 80, , 77, , 39.5 , , .522, , .427, , .882, , 10.5, , 6.6 , , 1.6 , , 1.2, , 28.7 , - , , 80, , 77, , 37.2 , , .462, , .269, , .853, , 4.0, , 6.8, , 1.2, , .5, , 15.7 , - , , 79, , 78, , 36.1 , , .524, , .000, , .743, , 10.6, , 1.6 , , .7 , , 1.3, , 17.6 , - , , 75, , 73, , 34.2 , , .529, , .268, , .868, , 3.6, , 5.3 , , 1.6 , , .1, , 12.9 , - , , 79, , 31, , 33.6 , , .570, , 1.000, , .760, , 9.0, , 1.8 , , .4 , , 1.5, , 19.8 , - , , 57, , 51, , 26.2 , , .533, , .000, , .831, , 4.2, , 1.8 , , .6 , , .3, , 11.1 , - , , 23, , 5, , 20.0 , , .385, , .261, , .674, , 2.5, , 3.9 , , 1.3 , , .2, , 6.4 , - , , 78, , 5, , 14.4 , , .478, , .500, , .764, , 2.0, , 1.2 , , .3 , , .1, , 6.4 , - , , 75, , 6, , 11.4 , , .383, , .000, , .640, , 1.2, , 2.0 , , .8 , , .0, , 2.4 , - , , 62, , 3, , 9.1 , , .421, , .000, , .774, , 1.1, , .8 , , .6 , , .0, , 2.7 , - , , 47, , 0, , 8.4 , , .416, , .391, , 1.000, , .9, , .5 , , .4 , , .1, , 3.2 , - , , 55, , 4, , 7.7 , , .375, , .000, , .688, , 1.6, , .3 , , .1 , , .2, , 1.6 , - , , 38, , 0, , 4.7 , , 388, , .000, , .882, , .6, , .7 , , .1 , , .0, , 1.8

Awards and records

* Larry Bird, NBA Most Valuable Player Award * Kevin McHale,

NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's best performing player for his team coming off the bench as a substit ...

* Larry Bird, All-NBA First Team *

, NBA All-Defensive Second Team